Things To Do near Challacombe Down

Challacombe Medieval Hamlet, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

Dartmoor's most famous deserted medieval settlement sits below Hound Tor towards the eastern side of the National Park. An English Heritage site, it attracts plenty of visitors and bus loads of school kids learning about Dartmoor's past. Clearly, it's not the only deserted medieval settlement on Dar...

Challacombe Medieval Strip Fields, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

Stand at English Heritage's Grimspound or Hookney Tor and look south west and you'll see weathered strips of farmland on the side of a steep hill. These are Challacombe Medieval Strip Fields. A local information board states that 'the narrow strip fields (lynchets) which you can see running...

Challacombe Valley and Farm, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

This beautiful valley sits between Hamel Down to the east and Challacombe Down to the west. At the top of the valley are Headland Warren Farm, Hookney Tor and English Heritage's Grimspound. At the bottom of the valley, by Challacombe, the land flattens out into an area of farmland leading down t...

Golden Dagger Tin Mine (Disused), Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

The area south of the B3212 near The Warren House Inn was heavily mined in past centuries. The local landscape is shaped, in part, by the Birch Tor and Vitifer Mine, the Headland Tin Mine, Bushdown Mine and the Golden Dagger Tin Mine. The wonderfully named Golden Dagger Tin Mine is the furthest sout...

Challacombe Stone Row, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

The Warren House Inn is the highest pub in southern England. English Heritage's Grimspound is one of Dartmoor National Park's most famous prehistoric sites. Between them, near the deserted Challacombe Medieval Hamlet, is a rare example of a triple stone row on Dartmoor. The stone row is loca...

Birch Tor and Vitifer Tin Mine (Disused), Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

The moorland east of The Warren House Inn is heavily scarred by centuries of tin mining. It's topped by Birch Tor. Birch Tor and Vitifer Tin Mine is the name given to a group of mines worked in this area. When you visit, you'll walk in, by or above scooped up of the moorland by the tinners....

Hamel Down Cross, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

In his 'Guide to Dartmoor', William Crossing notes that 'Hameldon Cross consists of a granite slab rather over four feet in height and about two feet in width, rudely fashioned into the form of the sacred symbol, and probably has never served any other purpose than that of a boundary sto...

Hameldown Tor, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

Grimspound is an English Heritage site located in a dip between Hamel Down and Hookney Down towards the heart of Dartmoor National Park. Two tors stand guard over the prehistoric settlement. To the north west is Hookney Tor. To the south east is Hameldown Tor. The views from the cairn and trig point...

Headland Warren and Headland Warren Farm, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

Study a map of Dartmoor and you'll see plenty of places named 'warren'. For example, in the south west section of the National Park, Hentor Warren, Ditsworthy Warren, Willings Walls Warren, Legistor Warren and Trowlesworthy Warren are names given to moorland on either side of the River P...

Grimspound (English Heritage), Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

There are a number of amazing facts about the prehistory of Dartmoor National Park.* It has the greatest concentration of Bronze Age sites in Britain. It's home to the longest stone row in the world. It has 60% of England's stone rows. It's home to more than 5000 hut circles or ancient homes. Despit...

Broad Barrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

Numerous cairns and barrows run along the spine of the vast Hamel Down. Broad Barrow sits on the highest ground 532 metres above sea level. The views up top are awesome. It's a particularly impressive place when the heather and gorse flower purple and yellow in early Autumn. A barrow is a mound o...

Birch Tor, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

There are a number of places on Dartmoor that attract lots of visitors. The Haytor Rocks area, for example, is packed in the holiday season. Burrator Reservoir can turn into a car park on sunny summer weekends. The Warren House Inn area is another busy spot. Southern England's highest pub, The...

Single Barrow, Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

The Dartmoor expert William Crossing writes 'this tumulus was opened in 1873 by the late Mr. C. Spence Bate, and was found to consist of earth with the exception of a low hedge of stones which encircled it, and a low cairn in the centre. About six feet from the latter a small heap of burnt human...

The Devil's Playing Cards/The Ace Fields, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

According to the Dartmoor expert William Crossing, 'Jan Reynolds once entered into a compact with a stranger, who turned out to be the Prince of Darkness, and failing to keep it became his victim. Seven years after the meeting Jan was discovered indulging in a nap in Widecombe Church on a Sunday...

Hookney Tor, Postbridge, Dartmoor National Park (approx. 1 mile away)

English Heritage's Grimspound sits in a saddle of moorland below two tors. Hameldown Tor is to the south east. The superb stacks of granite that form Hookney Tor are to the north west. Hookney Down pushes east to King Tor and is beautiful when covered in heather in late summer. Headland Warren Farm...